Abstract
There were four major types of law in the Tang Dynasty: lü 律 (code), ling 令 (statutes), ge 格 (regulations), and shi 式 (ordinances). These were the four main dynastic sets of laws that the Tang court required judges to follow when rendering judgment.
The three “law-abiding” judges cited in this essay were able to abide by the laws and regulations of the imperial court and rule in accordance with those laws; if they disobeyed the sovereign’s wishes, they were able to argue on the basis of reason and guide the sovereign to “manage affairs in accordance with the law,” like the law-abiding officials (xunli 循吏).
In almost every generation in ancient China, there were judges who bent the law and enforced it in a “harsh” manner, slightly similar to the “harsh officials” (kuli 酷吏) of ancient China. The brutality and ruthlessness of the Tang dynasty’s cruel officials far surpassed those of previous generations, and were concentrated in the era of Empress Wu 武后. As the Empress was ruling as a woman in a patriarchal society, there were few options but to adopt methods of terror and control the populace by fear. However, Wu Zetian 武則天 also understood that the reign of terror created by these harsh officials was unpopular, so she often sentenced them to death or exiled them to the frontier areas when she caught them in minor faults. Therefore, the historical evaluation of Wu Zetian does not seem to be affected by her reliance on harsh officials.
Keywords
Tang Dynasty, judges, image, law-abiding officials (xunli), harsh officials (kuli)
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